390 
THE BEAR. 
fine, half-grown cub which was carried from 
Quebec to England on board of a man-of- 
war, and which was entirely blind from the 
end of November till the end of February. 
This blindness seemed to cause him but 
little inconvenience, as he went about the 
ship with great confidence and agility, and 
in his gambols with the young midshipmen 
was fully a match for his playfellows. 
“ Bears are fond of sweets, especially 
honey, and will sometimes run great risks 
to obtain it. It was the belief of the an¬ 
cients that the bear was troubled with 
blindness and headache and resorted to the 
stings of the bees as a counter-irritant. If 
they find a bee-tree, they will work with 
great assiduity till they make a hole large 
enough to introduce their paws and draw 
out honey, bees and all. They also eat 
berries and acorns, and are very destructive 
to green corn. I can remember when the 
alarm of ‘Bears in the corn!’ used to be 
heard every now and then in summer. 
They will also enter cellars and steal milk; 
and all of them—at least in captivity—are 
fond of bread and cakes.” 
“They like cakes the best,” said Daisy. 
